Latest Steelers Buzz

Steelers make Maurkice Pouncey the highest paid center in NFL

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The Pittsburgh Steelers and center Maurkice Pouncey have agreed to a five year extension. Profootballtalk reports the deal is worth just north of $44 million, making Pouncey the games highest paid center. Pouncey receives a $13 million signing bonus.

Pouncey tore his ACL in Week 1 during the 2013 season and has been injured at inopportune times during his Steelers career, missing the Super Bowl vs Green Bay due to injury and a playoff game vs the Denver Broncos in Jan 2012.

Pouncey came onto the scene in a big way as a rookie in 2010, establishing himself as one of the NFL’s premier centers, but some evaluators strongly feel Pouncey has never matched that level of 2010 again.

From a character standpoint, there’s been some question marks with Pouncey as he is a close friend of Aaron Hernandez but that red flag surely doesn’t concern the Steelers. Pouncey and his brother Mike had been looked by investigators during the Hernandez investigations.

Pouncey was made a priority over Ben Roethlisberger and Jason Worilds on the extension front. The Steelers have yet to engage in any substantive talks with Roethlisberger.

Trade Buzz: Thursday’s 1-for-1 trade of young underperforming players saw the Minnesota Wild acquire center Victor Rask from the Carolina Hurricanes for left winger Nino Niederreiter. Carolina did an excellent job of being able to get out of the Rask contract, who has three years remaining with a $4 million cap hit. Rask has 1 goal, 5 assists on the season, mirrored in a 22-game goal drought. The logic here for Minnesota is taking the chance on a playmaking center who can help fill a top-9 spot longer term if the Wild move on from Eric Staal. Minnesota is also playing the card that a change of scenery will benefit the 24-year old who posted a career-high 21 goals, 48 points in 2015-2016.

Niederreiter’s trade value was stunted because of his contract, where he has three years left on his deal with a $5.25 million cap hit. Niederreiter is a player who is extremely hard to play against, drives possession well, and has three 20 goal seasons over his last four full seasons. Injuries (18 goals in 63 games) kept him from a 4th straight 20-goal season in 17-18. The Niederreiter acquisition also sets up as great insurance for the Hurricanes if they can’t resign Micheal Ferland. In the short-term, Carolina’s center situation is a mess with Jordan Staal sidelined with a concussion, but they’re getting the better player who fits the identity they’re trying to establish upfront, especially on the wings where they’ve identified the need for Patric Hornqvist type players.